Today in History

Thursday

Today is Thursday, June 14, the 165th day of 2018. There are 200 days left in the year. This is Flag Day.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On June 14, 1943, the U.S. Supreme Court, in West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette, ruled 6-3 that public school students could not be forced to salute the flag of the United States.

On this date:

In 1775, the Continental Army, forerunner of the United States Army, was created.

In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the design of the original American flag.

In 1801, former American Revolutionary War general and notorious turncoat Benedict Arnold, 60, died in London.

In 1928, the Republican National Convention, meeting in Kansas City, Missouri, nominated Herbert Hoover for president on the first ballot.

In 1934, Max Baer defeated Primo Carnera with an 11th round TKO to win the world heavyweight boxing championship in Long Island City, New York.

In 1940, German troops entered Paris during World War II; the same day, the Nazis began transporting prisoners to the Auschwitz concentration camp in German-occupied Poland.

In 1954, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed a measure adding the phrase "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance.

In 1968, Dr. Benjamin Spock and three other peace activists were convicted in Boston of conspiring to encourage young men to evade the draft during the Vietnam War. (The verdicts were later overturned by an appeals court.) The Iron Butterfly single "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" was released by Atco Records.

In 1972, the Environmental Protection Agency ordered a ban on domestic use of the pesticide DDT, to take effect at year’s end.

In 1982, Argentine forces surrendered to British troops on the disputed Falkland Islands.

In 1985, the 17-day hijack ordeal of TWA Flight 847 began as a pair of Lebanese Shiite Muslim extremists seized the jetliner shortly after takeoff from Athens, Greece.

In 1993, President Bill Clinton nominated Judge Ruth Bader Ginsburg to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

Ten years ago: Iran rejected a six-nation offer of incentives to stop enriching uranium, prompting President George W. Bush and French President Nicolas Sarkozy to jointly warn Tehran anew during a news conference in Paris against proceeding toward a nuclear bomb.

Five years ago: The Associated Press reported that Minnesota resident Michael Karkoc, 94, had been a top commander of a Nazi SS-led unit accused of burning villages filled with women and children, then lied to American immigration officials to get into the United States after World War II. (Polish authorities are currently seeking to extradite Karkoc, now 99 years old; Germany shelved its investigation after deciding Karkoc was unfit to stand trial. Karkoc’s family denies he was involved in any war crimes.) Major League Baseball came down hard on the Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks, handing out eight suspensions and a dozen fines as punishment for a bench-clearing brawl on June 11.

One year ago: A rifle-wielding gunman opened fire on Republican lawmakers at a congressional baseball practice in Alexandria, Virginia, wounding House Whip Steve Scalise and several others; the assailant died in a battle with police. Fire ripped through the 24-story Grenfell Tower in West London, killing 71 people.